Tag Archives | Down at the Crossroads

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with witch, teacher, writer, and healing practitioner Christopher Penczak about his experience being a career witch as well as his thoughts on pagan leadership. We also talk about his publishing company Copper Cauldron Publishing and some of what went into forming the Temple of Witchcraft located in Salem, New Hampshire.

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we meet with local New Jersey sorcerer and author Jason Miller to discuss his new book Sex, Sorcery, and Spirit: The Secrets of Erotic Magic. Jason and I have an honest discussion about sex magick, what it is, what it isn't, and we learn another reason why it's best to avoid touching someone else's magickal tools.

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. I am your bewitching, bald headed host Chris Orapello and tonight, we travel to the land of fae once again to attend FaerieCon East 2014 where I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing beloved Appalachian Folk Magic practitioner and author Byron Ballard. Byron and I had a fun discussion about her book Staubs and Ditchwater: A Friendly and Useful Introduction to Hillfolk’s Hoodoo as well as talk about her background, experiences, and thoughts in regards to practicing witchcraft and the art and drama of religious ritual in Paganism today.… Read the rest

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. Tonight, we meet with The Crooked Path walking Cunningman himself Peter Paddon to discuss Traditional Witchcraft. Peter and I had a great conversation about witchcraft and his thoughts on deity, the mysteries, his work, and what he has planned in the future. Peter was very big on utilizing technology in his teaching and in making himself available to the rest of the community. However, the heartbreaking reality of this interview is that Peter passed away quietly in his sleep three days after I spoke with him. His family made an announcement online about his passing and an obituary for him was written by Heather Greene for The Wild Hunt.… Read the rest

Hello and thank you once again for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism. Where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today’s most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. Tonight, we meet with witch, High Priestess, blogger, and author Lady Sable Aradia to discuss her new book The Witch’s Eight Paths to Power: A complete course in magick and witchcraft. We have a great, friendly, and open discussion as we go into her experiences with writing the book as well as delving into some of its more controversial aspects, like ritual drug use, such as the incorporation of intoxicants and entheogens, and the heavy topic of sex in initiation within certain forms of traditional based Wicca.

In his Book of Shadows, Gerald Gardner writes about the witch’s Eightfold Way as a means of developing one’s magickal abilities.

Hello and thank you for joining me down at the crossroads for some music, magick, and Paganism where witches gather for the sabbath, offerings are made, pacts are signed for musical fame and we cross paths with today's most influential Pagans, occultists, and deep thinkers. Tonight, we meet with the humble and always relevant founding editor of the Wild Hunt Blog Jason Pitzl-Waters to discuss his work, his very personal post titled The 3rd Degree: Exploitation and Initiation, as well as his Wild Hunt editorial Wagging the Dog, and we close with a glimpse into the upcoming event FaerieCon East which I look forward to attending. Jason and I have a great discussion and cover some heavy topics concerning the future of the Pagan community.

Sam Webster, M. Div., Mage, hails from the Bay Area and has taught magick publicly since 1984. He graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley in 1993.